Can the Wii U Survive without EA? Probably.

EA has pulled support from Nintendo in a major way. Crysis was canned. Battlefield is a no-show. EA Sports games are MIA for the first time in decades. Things have gotten so bad between EA and Nintendo that there are rumors that the two board of directors from both companies will not talk to each other. (Speaking of EA upper management, since John Riccitiello stepped down as CEO, EA has laid off 900 employees and paid $16 million in severances.)

Can any console survive without EA, the largest video game publisher, backing them? EA currently holds 22 active franchises in their grip, from Star Wars to Mass Effect to The Sims. That represents a large amount of gaming over the course of a full console generation.

Nintendo Has Survived with Weak Support in the Past

It may be unsettling and frustrating for Wii U owners to see a big publisher act so hostile towards their new system but Nintendo has been in worse situations before and still made it out just fine. Nintendo is formidable enough in their own right as a developer and publisher that no one will go starving. (Excluding the ever-troublesome post-launch months.) You may remember when Square Enix and many other publishers backed away from Nintendo in the N64 days. At that time it had more to do with Nintendo’s arrogance (read = Hiroshi Yamauchi) as opposed to the current situation which has more to do with EA’s arrogance (read = John Riccitiello.)

Back in the N64 days Nintendo managed to survive with hardly any third-party support at all by finding ways to replace the “missing” content with other exciting content. In those days, Rareware was a beast of a second-party developer and almost single-handedly made us forget our thirst for third-party games. On the GCN Nintendo had thawed some of the frost with third-parties and received a bit more support and ports. But Nintendo hadn’t yet achieved a prolific rate of development and some franchises, such as Mario and Zelda, only came around once per generation. While those specific iterations are known to be incredible classics (Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Super Mario Sunshine), there just wasn\’t enough to fill out the library even once the system hit its second and third generation.

Nintendo\’s Rate of Output Has Been Increasing

On N64, Nintendo published around 20 games, most of them big hits, and Rareware chipped in with its own 10 gems. On the Gamecube, Nintendo managed to push out around 30 games by itself, although they didn’t all invite equal amounts of enthusiasm (e.g. Mario Party 4-7, Donkey Konga 1+2, Star Fox: Assault, Odama, Mario Superstar Baseball, Kirby’s Air Ride.) Despite some great third-party games such as Resident Evil 4 and Viewtiful Joe, the lineup felt a bit sparse in between the massive first-party successes.

Contrast all of this to the Wii, where Nintendo published around 45 solid titles. (I’m not even counting less significant titles such as FlingSmash, PokePark, etc.) How did they accomplish this amazing increase in their rate of output? Four ways.

1. The Teams Got Larger

First of all Nintendo had grown internally. For example the EAD teams had become much larger and split up into many teams. Although there are officially 7 numbered teams at EAD, each of those teams has one or two smaller divisions. This is how Nintendo managed to release two Super Mario Galaxy games and a handful of New Super Mario Bros games within a few years of each other.

2. Nintendo Mentored and Outsourced to Talented Smaller Studios

Secondly, Nintendo started to work closely with a lot of smaller outside studios to the point that they are practically second-party studios. Until then Nintendo had only dished out work to official second-party studios but now Nintendo felt comfortable developing a close relationship and providing mentorship and guidance to teams such as Grezzo, Good-Feel, Monster Games, AlphaDream, Treasure, and many others. This trend has only continued as you will find that many of the Nintendo eShop games are actually outsourced to new teams that Nintendo has begun to mentor.

Have you noticed a new little studio named Vanpool who has been making some of the games you thought came directly from Nintendo? Yes they made Paper Mario Sticker Star and the two Dillon games on 3DS eShop. How about Grounding Inc., who made Sakura Samurai for the 3DS? Or Curve Studios, the talented team, who Nintendo has been mentoring as they made the two Fluidity games? Or Ganbarion, who made Jump All-Stars for DS and Pandora’s Tower for Wii? Yes, Nintendo is often like a baseball scout or pitching/batting coach, constantly recruiting new talent and helping them to grow into full-fledged athletes who can be relied upon.

3. Nintendo Acquired More First-Party Studios

Thirdly, Nintendo actually went ahead and purchased talented studios such as Retro Studios and Monolith Soft, who joined their stable of first-party developers and have made such small games Metroid Prime and Xenoblade.

4. Nintendo Took Less Time to Make New Games

And fourth, Nintendo has learned to speed up their development cycle over the years. You can almost sense how the Mario Galaxy teams and the New Super Mario Bros teams can go on auto-pilot when need be and craft new Mario-quality levels quite easily. The level-design that they have perfected over the years has almost become an instinct. The same goes for the Zelda teams. Sometimes Nintendo uses this acquired skill to push out sequels as fast as possible, but other times they save it up for extremely innovative titles, such as when the original Super Mario Galaxy and Skyward Sword were released. All in all, though, where you might see Ubisoft churning out Assassin Creed games by the year and Activision doling our Call of Duty games every time you blink, Nintendo also has learned to stagger the development cycle in a way that makes sure Nintendo fans have a constant drip of their favorite franchises throughout each console generation.

Those Methods Will Continue Into This Generation

Those four methods of pushing out new software is the way they already established in the last generation. How will these four methods affect us in this generation?

1. Now that Nintendo has larger internal teams we can expect more first-party games than any other generation. For example, there are now enough Zelda teams to coordinate simultaneously one team working on Wind Waker HD, another on Link to the Past 2, and the main team working on Zelda Wii U under Aounuma’s care. (While Grezzo handled Ocarina of Time 3D, and will probably make a Majora’s Mask 3D one day.) The same goes for Mario games. The New Super Mario Bros teams were big enough to coordinate New Super Mario Bros U, Super Luigi U, and New Super Mario Bros 2 (what will they do next?) Whereas the main Galaxy team is working on the upcoming 3D Mario Wii U game, the Super Mario Galaxy 2 team is free to do something else. (Super Mario Sunshine HD remake, anyone?)

2. The small studios Nintendo is mentoring will constantly provide us with new games, and often they will be small gems. One thing I really like about the new teams is that Nintendo lets them try out new IPs such as Dillon’s Rolling Western, Sakura Samurai, and Fluidity. Here’s a trailhead for you to follow up on: under Nintendo’s lead, skip Ltd made six bit Generation games for the GBA, six Art Style games for the DS, and six Art Style games for the Wii. It seems they’re good at making franchises with many small puzzle games. It’s only a matter of time before we see what they’re up to on the Wii U and 3DS.

3. One of the most exciting prospects of this generation is Nintendo’s new first-party studios. We already saw a glimpse of the incredible looking X from Monolith Soft and at E3 Retro Studios will drop their bomb on us. Word has it that both of these studios have also expanded enough to siphon off enough members to create a second small internal team. Will we see Monolith and Retro 3DS games to go along with their Wii U games? Also, Brownie Brown has now changed their name to 1-Up Studios. That doesn’t interest me. What does interest me is that the name change followed an internal restructuring that was precipitated by their co-development efforts with Nintendo. Does this mean they will take a more prominent role at Nintendo? They’ve already succeeded with Mother 3, Magical Vacation, Magical Starsign, and even helped out with Super Mario 3D Land. It looks like they’re getting more skilled as the years go on.

4. On the Wii there were three platforming Mario games, two Metroid games, and two Zelda adventures. Expect these quick development cycles to continue on Wii U. True, Wii U is suffering from the very common launch-year blues, but once all these teams begin to roll out their content, it won’t stop.

Nintendo Also Has Some New Ideas of How to Increase The Wii U\’s Library

But these four methods from the Wii generation aren’t the only changes to the software development cycle that Nintendo will be using for this new generation. There are entirely new ways being added on for the Wii U. What are they?

1. Collaborative Exclusives

The first of these is partnerships and collaborative exclusives with third-party developers. We’ve already seen some of these in The Wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2, and SMT x Fire Emblem. I’ve heard that Nintendo has a few more of these up their sleeve that they will be showing off close to or at E3. Even if PS4 and Xbox ____ end up getting third-party games that don’t end up on Wii U, Nintendo will make sure to reciprocate the love and license some exclusive third-party games that the other consoles won’t receive.

2. Indie Developers

The second of these strategies is the focus on indies and digital distribution on the eShop. Nintendo recognizes the up and coming potential of indie developers. Slowly but surely, these indies won’t be just a minority share in the industry but a healthy chunk of it. Nintendo is doing whatever they can to convert developers over to the Wii U eShop. Take all the PC developers using Unity, all the PC developers using HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript, and take all those making their games as mobile apps. Nintendo is attempting to reach out and offer conversion tools to all of them so it will be simple for those developers to include the Wii U in their plans.

3. Leverage the Support of Other Publishers

EA isn’t the end-all. There are other third-party publishers that Nintendo is making sure to get on their good sides. And there are other important ones, well underrepresented on Nintendo systems, that they should be focusing on recruiting instead of EA.

For example, Ubisoft, has taken quite nicely to Wii U. Nintendo of course, will try and make sure Ubisoft performs well and no doubt Nintendo hopes they one day surpass EA as the biggest publisher. With ZombiU standing tall as one of the best third-party exclusives so far for Wii U, we also heard a rumor a while back that the ZombiU team has an exclusive for Wii U in the works.

I believe Nintendo is also getting closer with Square Enix and we should see some of the dividends in time. What we’ve seen so far from this relationship is Deus Ex Human Revolution Director’s Cut and Dragon Quest X. I anticipate that we’ll see a Final Fantasy game on Wii U, as well.

Capcom obviously feels Monster Hunter is a good fit with Nintendo systems. Resident Evil, Mega Man, Okami, and Street Fighter have always had some kind of place on Nintendo systems, so we’ll probably those in some form on the Wii U.

Konami, Namco, Sega, and Tecmo Koei all have their own positive relationships with Nintendo and that usually leads to projects of different sorts. There should be varying levels of representation of these on Wii U over the next five years or so. Atlus and Level-5 both seem to be buddy-buddy with Nintendo, so they will continue their excellent output.

Where Nintendo does need to create better relationships is with Western publishers. Nintendo used to have good relationships with Activision, Ubisoft, EA, THQ, Warner Bros, and Disney. THQ is no more. EA is practically an enemy. Disney is good for everything other than Star Wars, where it has partnered with EA. Activision, Ubisoft, and Warner Bros are still quite reliable. However, there are a few publishers that Nintendo seems to have next to no relationship with at all.

ZeniMax Media is an important one. Through their subsidiaries such as Bethesda and id, a lot of important franchises get released, like Elder Scrolls, Doom, Quake, Fallout, etc.

Another is Take-Two Interactive. It’s clear Nintendo has some form of relationship with them as seen by the releases of Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars, Manhunt 2, and Bully. But there are a lot of other important franchises that completely skip Nintendo systems. These would be Borderlands, Bioshock, Max Payne, Mafia, Midnight Club, Serious Sam, Red Dead, and more.

And the last is Valve. Valve does have a lot of focus on PC but they did publish Portal 2, Half-Life 2, and Left 4 Dead 2 on consoles. So, there is a big gain in having them on board with the Wii U.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, the fallout with EA may lead to the loss of franchises such as Battlefield, Dead Space, Crysis, Mass Effect, and the EA sports games. But that doesn’t mean the Wii U won’t survive or have great games to replace them with. If anything, Nintendo should be working hard to foster better relationships with other developers. And you never know, when a new CEO is chosen and/or when the Wii U sales pick up, EA may have a change of heart.

What are your thoughts on the current situation with EA? Will it greatly affect Nintendo or will they thrive despite it?

Pretty part of content. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and in accession capital to say that I
get in fact loved account your blog posts. Anyway
I'll be subscribing on your augment and even I fulfillment you get right of entry to persistently fast.

I actually have just made computer software which is able to efficiently scrape corresponding contents of a subject
matter (or topic your site is focused on) from the the major
search engines to produce vast 100% copyscape passed material.
Think you're looking to research it?

He claims he is"not a jack of all trades, but just sticks with one. Commercial plumbers perform an equally important job when servicing commercial clients. With the help from clientele documented support, the company is proficient to take care of all your residential plumbing requirements.

Great article. Nintendo should be fine with the titles that they have coming up. What they could do is develop some of the EA titles themselves with their own touch to it.
Also, it was rumored that EA shut down its partner division label. If this is true, maybe Crytek and Nintendo could do something together & bring Crysis 3 to the Wii U. http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/25/ea-partners-label-reportedly-closing

Personally I think EA titles on the wii u will be better for both parts The system is selling Nintendo always sells even if just for there own titles like Zelda. EA can cash in on the selling force of Nintendo as well as Nintendo have some of the heavy hitters that EA produces giving them a better game catalog. That being said EA stands more to loose very few game franchise last the long haul as lets say Mario EA should sell while the Selling is good take Battlefield for example everyone and there mama has a army FPS your not the only company making good ones and i wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo takes a big bite into the 2K game series like Dreamcast did once upon a time to battle the EA Sports line witch have run out of fresh ideas to offer in my opinion and with Nintendo's added Indie Effort the days of the big studio is coming to a end with technology advancing like it is a group of talented people can not only design and build a amazing fresh game with new ideas not overshadowed by large corporation but also raise funds and market the title with minimal finance and headache plus a possible free dev kit I enjoy some EA games and think its sad that they can't reach an agreement for the fans but at the end of the day Nintendo doesn't need EA and im sure they will not be the ones to bow there heads on the matter EA will have to give and face the day where Nintendo might not want there games kiss and make up while there's chance in salvation

Larger teams and faster dev cycles. Did you purposely ignore Iwata saying the lack of games on Wii U is partly due to not having enough staff? That they're trying to recruit people for their first party titles, and they had to pull people off Pikmin 3 causing a delay, that were put back on Pikmin 3 to finish that before they can get back to other titles. This is damage control to the fullest.

The one good thing for all the other developers is that the more EA acts so childish with this bs behaviour the better it is for them to release games that will be bigger and bigger hits on Wii U as sales go up. Yes, i will miss some of the sports games but I'm sure EA is not the only publisher that can make them. Someone else might just step up like Nintendo with a new Wii Sports or something like that.

You know, the only thing I can think of when I contemplate the situation with EA, is how one of Iwata's new goals is to make people (dev's/p'shers) regret not supporting the Wii U when they had the chance too. I'm not disregarding business decisions, if you think you are going to loose cash then you will back away, simple as. But I will be interested to see if he follows through and is successful with his goal.

Something I have been saying in forums is IMO Nintendo needs to leversge their handheld sucess to help the Wii-U.....I also own ps3 and Vita and like some of what Sony is doing with cross play/buy. Nintendo should be cookong this up and promoting other devs to do it. For example MHU should include a download code for 3DS version. This way it promtoes you buying the wii-u system and version if you are already a 3ds owner. It already supports cross play and game save share. When SMT x FE comes out how about a character or team tranfer option so all that timenyou put in on 3ds would translate to Wii-u and encourage you to buy the game. For god sakes put out a console pokemon and make it ty in with the 3ds and allow you you to swap, share, tranfer you pokemon. Who that games on both portables and consoles doesn't want this? And now you are enticing an audience of 30mil and growing gamers to buy and play the home console. Nintendo did a little of this in the distant past with N64 gba transfer accesory. Pokemon stadium was awesome when you and your friends bought your lovingly levelled up pokemon in to fight and they also used it for Mario Golf which was awesome because you could get stuff on GBC mario gold and bring into N64 that you couldn't get natively on N64...come on Nintendo quit looking at these products as isoltaded and give us what I am asking for!

Why do people care? This all happened when Nintendo and Rare went basically solo with the N64, this worked fine. Nintendo is now doing a similar strategy with Platinum (also Atlas and Retro) to go after super blockbusting games (HD Zelda=awesome). EA's games are getting worse with each year just like Activiston. I'm sick of these super-capital companies and want Nintendo to succede (vs. mr hacks alot and internet charging consoles) due to them caring about gamers and giving them what they ask for with amazing quality. Tha Wii U will succede, I promise you; it won't be a Dreamcast. (Miiverse SecretAgentJ)

Remeber shortly after Xbox Live launched on the Original Xbox and EA in thier wisdom thought it would be a good idea for all EA games to connect through thier portal, and charge people for the privalige on xbox.. this is before thier basic portal turned into Origin.
Well MS said No, so in return EA decided Xbox will No longer be supported, No Fifa, No Madden, etc, etc.
But EA's withdrawl of Support ment nothing. So little in fact that after a while EA re-started publishing games on the original Xbox.
People are even more Fed up with the way EA go about thier business these days, Voted worst company 2 years running in America so no WiiU/Nintendo doesn't need EA and will survive without them, just like the Xbox did. Eventually EA will be publishing on WiiU again they will have to. With more & more gaming options becoming available the different sources of peoples prefered gaming fix will mean that No one platform will have a userbase and games sale numbers as what has been seen. All Publishers have seen a drop in game sales across all platforms as the gaming community is getting more & more diversley seperated across the different gaming systems and devices.
Development houses and publishers are already going bust & being shut down and unless publishers are willing to spread its interests across all gaming options more will go under. EA included, its not like they have been doing that well financially, the same as many other publishers.
Behind this Anti-Nintendo stance EA are pushing, is the Nintendo-Origin buisness, its common knowledge by all, even by non-nintendo fans.. Very little, If any of EA's Attitude towards WiiU is down to technical specifications or sales numbers.

Good article. I really like Nintendo's strategy with this gen and hopefully they'll be able to form some relationships with some of those studios that they don't have much of one with currently.
Really liking their approach to indie games as well.
Have felt that Nintendo really needs to make an effort to get as much exclusive content on the Wii U as possible. Definitely seems like that is their plan.
EA....they ruined NBA Live(and were then demolished completely by 2K) and NCAA Football there aren't many games I will miss. I rented Madden for the Wii U and the ability to draw routes on the screen was very cool. The minute the Gamepad was unveiled my first thought was: You should be able to draw routes on Madden/NCAA or draw up a play in a timeout in NBA 2K(really hoping they add this feature next go around. Ability to draw your own plays up. For an NBA junkie like me that'd be AWESOME.) Other than NCAA though I don't think I'll miss them.
Hopefully, companies that have games competing with EA's franchises will see an opportunity though.

EA is a big publisher, but in all honesty, not everyone really cares that much about them. :P
I think that having EA (at least for their annual sports games and occasional hits), would be nice, but they aren't the most important company in the industry so its really not that big a deal in the end. :)
After all, Sega's 2K studios make great sports titles and they are on board with the system and there are a ton of studios out there that make gaming hits every console generation so in the end, I feel, that ultimitely, EA is the one who is going to suffer the most anyway and, if they do, they have no one to blame but themselves. :(

The only thing that matters to me on this front is Battlefield. Its the singulatory franchise that I was looking forward to on Wii U from EA. Now its not happening, they can call issues on FB3 as an excuse, but I dont buy it. The only hope I have left now for an experience like that is if Retro are doing something that only they can do, they are Nintendo's only studio capable of making a full fledged western FPS that can grip the genre and define it.
Theres a lot of hope in that statement, but in this entire situation I wish it wasn't occurring just so as I could get my hands on this single game on my console of choice. I do believe that Nintendo do need EA, so they need to be working on the relationship. EA hold some vital franchises that drive the industry, in the UK at least FIFA drives sales. MVG events are coordinated around launch of FIFA launches, consoles are sold just so as males from the age of 12 to 45 can play FIFA. I spent many times during university watching friends play FIFA on the playstation 2, they didnt own any other games, they just traded it in next year for the newest FIFA.
Everyone can make as many statements about how Nintendo doesnt need EA to have games or sell consoles, but to my interpretation of the industry and a stakeholder point of view they do. EA can and will drive market revenues, just as much as Activision does, when they all release key products. But with EA not supporting WiiU, when they get the chance to get behind the steering wheel, they do so with Sony and Microsoft in the passenger seats. So when it comes to market share, EA will help the competition while stifling Nintendo.

I'm glad that someone finally said it. If any company is in danger of faltering it's EA. With them no longer paying for gun licensing in their games to laying off 10 percent of their staff; The bell is tolling for EA and I'm wondering how long they can stand it. In regards to EA's acquisition of the Star Wars license, let's just face reality in recognizing that Sony and Microsoft are probably going to go through the same first year drought as the Wii U and when the Wii U's sales start to explode EA better get its head from out of its rear and bring its games over... of course by then it will probably be too late ( Good riddance to bad rubbish, no offence to the workers at EA).

I hope that when the Wii U turns it around (and believe me, it will) Nintendo refuses to allow EA to publish their games on their systems, or at least makes them suffer for how they're behaving right now. EA is a spoiled brat.

Finally, someone on the Internet who realizes that EA isn't THAT big of a deal. Is it pain that they're giving us the finger? Yeah. Are we doomed? HELL NO! EA's been digging their own grave as it is anyway. I honestly think Nintendo's better off getting 2K and Bethseda on its side. EA will probably come crawling back if Nintendo manages to get the Wii U off the ground. That said, Nintendo has a LOT of big games on the way. I am 98% sure these will do the trick, but Nintendo needs to bump up their marketing. And I don't just mean a wicked Wii U campaign. They have to work in TANDEM with third parties. I think third parties could be hurt by Nintendo's games, so Nintendo has to find a way to make sure third parties, namely Ubisoft's, games stay relevant. Do something to remind Nintendo fans that the console actually has good third party games.
That aside, GREAT article. I especially liked the part about Nintendo's dev teams. I only owned a Gamecube back in the day and yet I have totally failed to notice the increase in first party output! Keep it up Ninty!

Thanks for the great article....there is so much doom and gloom it is nice to see a comprensive article covering the spectrum of support and upcoming titles for Wii-U. I think several things are in play, not the least of which is poor sales of their titles on Nintendo consoles.....sadly though many of their titles could not come to Wii and when they did they were often bad. Still things like Madden09 and the one Dead Spac they did were good games. I think series like Dragon Age and Mass Effect could really shine with innovative gamepad support. As far as portables....EA has always been weak on handhelds and really never done much of mention...I would love a good NCAAFB or Madden on Vita but nothing. Lastly I think EA knows many of us are multiplatform supporters and when yheir Nintendo versions are usually weaker or ports then we would buy them on other systems over Nintendos. I more dissapointed by their unprofessional and vendeta minded attitude than anything. I own multiple systems and if EA puts a game out I want I will play in on sony or microsoft or PC for that matter....still as an old school gamer I have a soft spot in my heart for Ninty and hope they do well with Wii-U because it has unique and innovative features.

It's an interesting situation and it feels like just another chapter for me in following Nintendo, I have been with them since the Nes and they feel like family ... strange I know but I'm just a little meh to be honest. EA are a silly company if all we read is true and the relationship is that hostile. The only games I will miss are NFS, Dead Space and if they ever do it again, Boom Blox! And this is where a new chapter begins... That lot is by the by but we now have ubi doing something different and I love z.u so much, the indie devs on board, the exclusives with things like Bayonetta and x. Many people whine over Nintendo doing it the same every gen but in truth its never ever the same. I like that. I'm not just being a fan boy, I don't have the time any more to worry too much about what is cool ...i know n will always deliver something great.

I think what really baffles me is them completely disregarding the 3DS, a system that has an audience of 30 MILLION. This does hint at SOMETHING happening between them and Nintendo as the excuse they have for the Wii U couldn't work with the 3DS.

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. EA's lack of support is an obvious hurdle, but its also true that EA does not have the same presence on Nintendo consoles that they do on competing consoles. Not having EA on the Xbox or Playstation would be a major blow for them, but seeing as how EA has failed to put a game in the top 25 total sales on a Nintendo console in over 12 years tells me that their support holds less weight. Ultimately consumers speak with their wallets, and so far the consumers have said they do not want EA's games. Batman and Assassins Creed both sold far better than Mass Effect and even Need for Speed Most Wanted. EA games do not sell Nintendo consoles, and Nintendo gamers traditionally have limited interest in EA's games.

The real question here is will ea survive by doing the things they do? Dead space was disapointing in both sales and reviews there sport titles sell less each year no matter the console and pc gamers are getting away from sim city the biggest pc ip that ea has.

The collaborative exclusives could be very big deals, IMO. What will be interesting to watch is how involved does Nintendo get? A game like Bayonetta 2 is probably mostly in Platinum's hands; I don't imagine Nintendo allocating lots of internal help or vetoing much of Platinum's work.
OTOH, Metroid: Other M was a collab where Team Ninja did some heavy lifting, but it was always up to Sakamoto et. al. to have the final say (and they were quite involved).
There's more than one way to collaborate.

Thing is though, EA's games haven't really done well on Nintendo systems, mostly because EA has rarely given much push for them. Heck, they aren't making anything for the 3DS, a system that has 30 MILLION owners. This is pure idiocy on EA's part.

Perhaps, but while EA MIGHT help tip things in Sony and Microsofts favor in the West, Nintendo seems to making headways in Japan. Looking at everything Sony's been doing, they're really putting themselves in a position to get cramped in Japan. What Nintendo loses in the West, they may be able to more than make up for with Japan. Afterall, a lot Nintendo fans both current and former like Japanese style games. Look at the reaction 'X' has created!

We aren't denying that'll hurt. But historically, EA's games haven't really been to significant on Nintendo consoles. The publisher is also making many lame-brained moves that's hurting them financially. EA better be careful, or their bad behavior will make things worse for them.

Haha, lol. My bad! Those kinds of mistakes always slip into my articles while I write. I also made a mistake earlier by writing the Watch_Dogs team have an exclusive game in the works for Wii U whereas it should have said the ZombiU team. After that I got a ton of emails asking if we know something new about an exclusive from the Watch_Dogs team. Whoopsie! Well, those mistakes have been fixed now.

"The real question here is will ea survive by doing the things they do"
My thoughts exactly. I'm sure they will, but they're going to be hurting themselves more than they're hurting Nintendo by not putting their games on the console.
What's going to happen when Wii U, quite inevitable, starts pushing units and the last game from EA was Most Wanted U? What's going to happen if next-generation is akin to last-generation sales wise and the PS4 and 720 don't sell as many units as the Wii U?
What could happen is that EA could be too late to the party and many other 3rd Party developers filled up the spots EA could have had if they just cooperated. It's a lot of "What if's", but this possibility has had to have crossed the company's mind some time.

I think The Last Story was also similar to that. Sakaguchi said Nintendo vetoed a few of the ideas for the game. So, it seems that Nintendo was funding it or was given a strong say in the development for some reason.

Indeed, and I believe that Nintendo already respond to this in their recent briefing when Iwata-san said that "he wants to fix this by creating a situation in which third parties not currently actively supporting Wii U will regret that decision once third parties that did support it start to produce hits on the system". :)
Oh EA, tis a slippery road you walk on my friend. :P

The same can be said for games thats were released on the GameCube several years ago like F-Zero GX/AX (Nintendo and Sega), as well as Star Fox Assault (Nintendo and Namco). :)
I am definitely looking forward to seeing what these new collaborations turn out to be. :D

I know right! I actually only owned a Wii too before getting a Wii U. I wondered I never really felt a push to get a PS3 or Xbox 360. Guess this article explains why! (Not to flatter myself or anything.)